23 pages of email verification

**Draykin** · 2012-09-02, 06:31 AM

So my computer has been broken for a day, got everything fixed and I get on and see this new email verification thing. I go to look at my email and I see 23 pages of verifications, all of which are from locations in China. Honestly have no idea what I should do, I've never been hacked in any game before. I logged on and everything is the same as far as I can tell. I'm about to run a system scan and after that switch my password on there. Is there anything else I should do?

**aggixx** · 2012-09-02, 06:34 AM

Wouldn't hurt to change your email password as well. Make sure it's not the same as your GW2 account, of course!

**Draykin** · 2012-09-02, 06:42 AM

That I've made sure of, my email always has a unique password I don't use for anything else. But I seriously have no idea how this could've happened.

**aggixx** · 2012-09-02, 06:53 AM

Possibly like this? (relevant)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuNCL...ailpage#t=401s

**Rakeer** · 2012-09-02, 06:59 AM

with all these attempted takeovers, is there a guide as to how to set up a secure GW2 account? I tried the website but it said it was down.

**LazyJones** · 2012-09-02, 07:08 AM

Simple.
Use an email that you have not and will not ever use anywhere else, for any other purpose.
Same with the password.

**Hanto** · 2012-09-02, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by LazyJones

Simple.
Use an email that you have not and will not ever use anywhere else, for any other purpose.
Same with the password.

This, and don't forget to scan your computer!

**Draykin** · 2012-09-02, 07:14 AM

Ugh, this is why I'm confused. I do all this and it still happened.

**LazyJones** · 2012-09-02, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by Draykin

Ugh, this is why I'm confused. I do all this and it still happened.

Not possible.
You must've used the email somewhere else. Otherwise they wouldn't know about it.

Are you using an email program set up to grab your mails from different email accounts perhaps, and thought they were recieved on the GW2 email account?

The only other option is that they have a keylogger on your PC, but in that case they would have your password as well, and your GW2 account would now be theirs.

**Bluxwave** · 2012-09-02, 07:19 AM

email detected need new email =)

**edgecrusher** · 2012-09-02, 07:23 AM

They found out your e-mail somehow. Either when they accessed another games database (Cryptic, Blizzard, Trion and most other MMO devs have had their databases accessed at some point) or they "brute forced" your email since the GW2 site apparently lets you know if the email you entered is attached to an account or not.

As long as you have a secure password, I wouldn't be too concerned since they apparently seem to be accessing accounts through brute forcing it. Hopefully ArenaNet can continue to implement more security measures on their side.

**1001** · 2012-09-02, 07:33 AM

Curious if those getting spam are only using mainstream email providers (gmail, hotmail etc).
I get free email accounts with my domain and haven't had a single spam email. It could be worth trying a free account with fastmail, gmx, lavabit or w/e.

**Matchu** · 2012-09-02, 07:53 AM

If you're using Gmail, turn on 2-step verification.

**Draykin** · 2012-09-02, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by edgecrusherO0

They found out your e-mail somehow. Either when they accessed another games database (Cryptic, Blizzard, Trion and most other MMO devs have had their databases accessed at some point) or they "brute forced" your email since the GW2 site apparently lets you know if the email you entered is attached to an account or not.

As long as you have a secure password, I wouldn't be too concerned since they apparently seem to be accessing accounts through brute forcing it. Hopefully ArenaNet can continue to implement more security measures on their side.

Would I get an "Authorize Login Attempt" email even if they only knew my address or would it require the address and password?

Also, just to give more depth to how many attempts there were: I have my email page set up to show 25 emails per page, so they tried at least 575 times if each email was for a different attempt.

**Atherions** · 2012-09-02, 08:01 AM

I dont even have a guild wars account and i get email verification mails from Arenanet

**Matchu** · 2012-09-02, 08:04 AM

You only get "Authorize Login" from successfully logging in, I think. So yeah, you'll need to change your password.

**Blackmist** · 2012-09-02, 08:05 AM

Oddly enough, I have a "Somebody has requested to change your account email address, click here" message, but it's come through on an email account that I've never told Anet about (except when I tried to get beta access and was denied). My actual account has got nothing.

Getting a GW2 email on an account I normally use WoW for is an indicator that data has gone walkies somewhere. But I don't think it's from Anet.

**LazyJones** · 2012-09-02, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by Atherions

I dont even have a guild wars account and i get email verification mails from Arenanet

Those are fake emails. Spam phishing.

**Matchu** · 2012-09-02, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by LazyJones

Those are fake emails. Spam phishing.

They're unlikely to be fake, though they are technically a form of phishing.

ArenaNet's poor email system means you can pretty much force a "confirm this email!" email on anyone.

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